Journal Article•
Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy
About: This article is published in Review of Metaphysics.The article was published on 1997-02-01 and is currently open access. It has received 2568 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Democracy.
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01 Jan 2006
2,797 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop a framework for understanding the range of institutional possibilities for public participation, including who participates, how participants communicate with one another and make decisions together, and how discussions are linked with policy or public action.
Abstract: The multifaceted challenges of contemporary governance demand a complex account of the ways in which those who are subject to laws and policies should participate in making them. This article develops a framework for understanding the range of institutional possibilities for public participation. Mechanisms of participation vary along three important dimensions: who participates, how participants communicate with one another and make decisions together, and how discussions are linked with policy or public action. These three dimensions constitute a space in which any particular mechanism of participation can be located. Different regions of this institutional design space are more and less suited to addressing important problems of democratic governance such as legitimacy, justice, and effective administration.
1,526 citations
01 Dec 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the current debate about the nature of democracy and discuss the main theses of the approach called "deliberative democracy" in its two main versions, the one put forward by John Rawls, and the other one put forth by Jurgen Habermas.
Abstract: This article examines the current debate about the nature of democracy and discusses the main theses of the approach called 'deliberative democracy' in its two main versions, the one put forward by John Rawls, and the other one put forwardby Jurgen Habermas. While agreeing with them as regards to the need to develop a more of democracy than the one offered by the 'aggregative' model, I submit that they do not provide an adequate understanding of the main task of democracy. No doubt, by stating that democracy cannot be reduced to a question of procedures to mediate among conflicting interests, deliberative democrats defend a conception of democracy that presents a richer conception of politics. But, albeit in a different way thanthe view they criticize, their vision is also a rationalist one which leaves aside the crucial role played by 'passions' and collective forms of identifications in the field of politics. Moreover, in their attempt to reconcile the liberal tradition with the democratic one, deliberative democrats tend to erase the tension that exist between liberalism and democracy and they are therefore unable to come to terms with the conflictual nature of democratic politics. The main thesis that I put forward in this article is that democratic theory needs to acknowledge the ineradicability of antagonism and the impossibility of achieving a fully inclusive rational consensus. I argue that a model of democracy in terms of 'agonistic pluralism' can help us to better envisage the main challenge facing democratic politics today: how to create democratic forms of identifications that will contribute to mobilize passions towards democratic designs.;
1,338 citations
TL;DR: Public diplomacy, as the diplomacy of the public, not of the government, intervenes in this global public sphere, laying the ground for traditional forms of diplomacy to act beyond the strict negotiation of power relationships by building on shared... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The public sphere is the space of communication of ideas and projects that emerge from society and are addressed to the decision makers in the institutions of society. The global civil society is the organized expression of the values and interests of society. The relationships between government and civil society and their interaction via the public sphere define the polity of society. The process of globalization has shifted the debate from the national domain to the global debate, prompting the emergence of a global civil society and of ad hoc forms of global governance. Accordingly, the public sphere as the space of debate on public affairs has also shifted from the national to the global and is increasingly constructed around global communication networks. Public diplomacy, as the diplomacy of the public, not of the government, intervenes in this global public sphere, laying the ground for traditional forms of diplomacy to act beyond the strict negotiation of power relationships by building on shared...
936 citations
Book•
05 Oct 2012
TL;DR: Tweets and the Streets as mentioned in this paper examines the relationship between the rise of social media and the emergence of new forms of protest, arguing that activists' use of Twitter and Facebook does not fit with the image of a "cyberspace" detached from physical reality.
Abstract: Tweets and the Streets analyses the culture of the new protest movements of the 21st century. From the Arab Spring to the "indignados" protests in Spain and the Occupy movement, Paolo Gerbaudo examines the relationship between the rise of social media and the emergence of new forms of protest. Gerbaudo argues that activists' use of Twitter and Facebook does not fit with the image of a "cyberspace" detached from physical reality. Instead, social media is used as part of a project of re-appropriation of public space, which involves the assembling of different groups around "occupied" places such as Cairo's Tahrir Square or New York's Zuccotti Park. An exciting and invigorating journey through the new politics of dissent, Tweets and the Streets points both to the creative possibilities and to the risks of political evanescence which new media brings to the contemporary protest experience.
911 citations
References
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TL;DR: The relationship of republicanism to democracy is the great absentee in the contemporary debate on non-domination as mentioned in this paper, despite the fact that liberty in the Roman mode was forged not only in direct confrontation with monarchy but against democracy as well.
Abstract: Freedom as non-domination has acquired a leading status in political science. As a consequence of its success, neo-roman republicanism also has achieved great prominence as the political tradition that delivered it. Yet despite the fact that liberty in the Roman mode was forged not only in direct confrontation with monarchy but against democracy as well, the relationship of republicanism to democracy is the great absentee in the contemporary debate on non-domination. This article brings that relationship back into view in both historical and conceptual terms. It illustrates the misrepresentations of democracy in the Roman tradition and shows how these undergirded the theory of liberty as non-domination as a counter to political equality as a claim to taking part in imperium. In so doing it brings to the fore the “liberty side” of democratic citizenship as the equal rights of all citizens to exercise their political rights, in direct or indirect form.
79 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of the Frankfurt School in the discourse-historical approach (DHA) is explored, and references to the Frankfurt school can be found in the DHA's canon.
Abstract: Critical discourse analysis (CDA) stands on the shoulder of giants – different giants – in order to answer how its critique, its ethico-moral stance, is theoretically grounded and justified. Concerning this question, this article explores the role of the Frankfurt School in the discourse–historical approach (DHA). Although references to the Frankfurt School can regularly be found in the DHA's canon, I argue that an even more comprehensive discussion would help in combating accusations of the DHA being unprincipled and politically biased, and further enrich the DHA's toolkit for empirical analysis. After reviewing existing references to the Frankfurt School, I discuss this intellectual tradition – from Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno's The dialectic of enlightenment to Jurgen Habermas's language-philosophy – showing to what extent it can(not) ground the DHA's emancipatory and socially transformative aims. Thereby, I illustrate how the DHA's critical standard is not simply based on a coincidental, thou...
79 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: In a recent special issue of Regulation and Governance as mentioned in this paper, the authors celebrated twenty years since the publication of Ayres and Braithwaite's Responsive Regulation and their vision of transcending the regulation-deregulation debate.
Abstract: This special issue of Regulation and Governance celebrates and appraises twenty years since the publication of Ian Ayres and John Braithwaite’s Responsive Regulation. This Introduction situates the origins of Responsive Regulation and its vision of transcending the regulation-deregulation debate in the professional biographies of the authors. It goes on to introduce the extensions, critiques and appreciations of responsive regulation offered by the contributors to this special issue by situating them in the rich and ambiguous legacy of Ayres and Braithwaite’s 1992 book. Finally the Introduction points out that the main legacy of responsive regulation is the way it has inspired regulators, social movement advocates and scholars to keep imagining new ways of regulating for the public interest in a context where the boundaries between state, business and civil society is changing so that a predominant reliance on government regulation is no longer seen as legitimate. The Introduction argues that for the future the field of regulatory studies should also include studies that conceptualise and deductively test more specific and particular components of policy oriented theory that might provide the evidence base for responsive regulation, and, importantly, radically inductive critical studies that illuminate the values and interests and power differences that are created by regulation, including regulation inspired by responsive regulation.
78 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the extent to which blogs and blogroll communities act as forums for democratic deliberative discussions and found that this online discussion does exhibit some deliberative characteristics but that this discussion is often characterized by inequality of discussion, a focus on non-substantive issues, and unconstructive engagement between bloggers.
Abstract: Several theorists have entertained the possibility that the egalitarian nature of Internet-based discussion may facilitate meaningful democratic deliberative discussions amongst citizens. This article provides a preliminary empirical test of these claims by examining the extent to which blogs and blogroll communities act as forums for such deliberations. The analysis uses a dataset derived from a content analysis performed on blogs from three Canadian partisan blogrolls in October 2005. We perform three tests of the deliberative qualities of blog-based discussions: (a) whether discussion is characterized by equality of participation; (b) whether bloggers discuss substantive issues; and (c) whether bloggers engage constructively in discussions with political opponents. We find that this online discussion does exhibit some deliberative characteristics but that this discussion is often characterized by inequality of discussion, a focus on non-substantive issues, and unconstructive engagement between bloggers.
78 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a comprehensive overview of the normative dimensions which need to be addressed while invoking the precautionary principle, implementing it under particular regulatory frameworks and applying it by taking particular measures.
Abstract: This contribution aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the normative dimensions which need to be addressed while invoking the precautionary principle, implementing it under particular regulatory frameworks and applying it by taking particular measures. This contribution is written from the perspective of a policy analyst, and informed by an EU practice which is still evolving. In the second section, I will make an overview he normative challenges the precautionary principle faces in terms of deliberation at the levels of politics, policy making and the science-policy interface. In the third section, I will elaborate more specifically on one of the normative considerations which can trigger of the precautionary principle, namely ‘a reasonable grounds for concern’ which refers to the seriousness of particular threats under circumstances of scientific uncertainty. In the fourth section, I will elaborate on the normative standards for the acceptability of a particular level of protection of the environment or human health. I conclude with an operational definition of the precautionary principle on which all EU policy can, and should be based. The precautionary principle is a deliberative principle. Its application involves deliberation on a range of normative dimensions which need to be taken into account while making the principle operational in the public policy context. The term ‘normative’ refers here to all the prescriptive statements and or value judgements in contrast to factual scientific statements.
78 citations